SPORTS MINDSET TRAINING: THE SECRET BENEFITS FOR SPORTS PERFORMANCE

Achieve a Mindset of a Champion, stay motivated and develop self-confidence for sports performance:

When it comes to sports mindset training, people often do not understand what it is or how to do it. We see several quotes or hashtags on social media regarding #mentaltoughness or strong mind, strong body. Let’s dive into these perceptions and expand on them a bit. Mindset Training for sports is just like anything else; you need a system to follow and must be consistent.

Here are some benefits of sports mindset training and secrets to make it work.

Benefits.

FOCUS. Just training your mind alone and setting goals helps athletes focus on the right areas. Athletes who do not set goals, just want to ‘win’ and believe only in hard work are not as focused as an athlete who sets goals for each practice and performance. When an athlete starts to build habits, routines and train their mind they get a boost in motivation and optimism. The reason is most athletes, especially youth athletes are not aware of strengthening their mental game, and when they start goal oriented sports mindset programs the unrest they felt about certain areas such as nerves, confidence are diminished and much more manageable.

MINDFULNESS. Probably the biggest long term benefit of headsharp or any sports mindset training is an athlete becomes mindful of their emotional states. This helps not only for sports performance but also academics and later in life. There is definitely a misunderstanding that certain feelings or emotions are completely wiped out when meditating or training your mind, however the emotions or doubt may still be there, it is our ability to manage it. A person who is mindful knows when they are not in the right state of mind, but now has techniques to do something about it. This will help an athlete when beginning to think or act in a negative manner.

This is why traditional statements like “Get your head in the game” or “snap out of it” do nothing for younger athletes. An athlete needs to be made aware of techniques to avoid, minimize, manage and change states. Without 1) knowledge and 2) techniques, we are wasting valuable time.

We just touched on some benefits, but equally important, here are some Secrets to make it work:

CONSISTENCY. If a student athlete crams for a test or only practices a routine right before competition or a test they will not retain this information or muscle memory. That is why building positive habits has been a secret ingredient to sustainable success. However without discipline, there will be no habits. Athletes must work and drill their assignments, visualization, and headsharp techniques consistently so over time they replace bad habits, thoughts, social perceptions about outcomes, teams, situations or opponents.

DISCIPLINE. People may ask: Isn’t discipline the same thing as consistency? Not exactly. Discipline is sticking to what you said you were going to do when you don’t feel like it. If an athlete commits to a certain time to workout, study, and they need to meet those commitments. However, having a parent always reminding them or telling them to do something isn’t the best answer. Student and youth athletes need to feel empowered.

In order to avoid arguments and conversations to hold to a commitment, we must spend time at the initial stage of goal setting. When athletes set goals with their coaches there should be a conversation about how much work and commitment is needed to meet that goal. It is best these conversations occur with a coach because it is the coaches job to coach them to and through achieving goals.

If an athlete drags their feet on goal setting, and is not disciplined to honor commitments, the negative path may continue to persist, and parents weigh in which may further push the athlete away. It is really important to be proactive. Have athlete set goals with coaches. Make a commitment. The athlete should be accountable to a teammate/best friend and the coach. Parents should support this process but not the ones to answer to. It simply doesn’t work. You want to empower your athlete, and micro managing, even if they aren’t holding up their end of the bargain is not effective.

What if my son / daughter is not holding up to the commitments? Well, this is where setting realistic, specific goals is important. There are different types of goals including improvement goals. If athletes are not consistent in making commitments, then that goal should exist and be prioritized.

Each season all athletes should have specific goals that improve a wide variety of areas. It is coach's job to help prioritize to keep focus and progression moving forward.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

HEADSHARP has developed a sports performance app specifically to address these topics among others in a prioritized, systematic approach for athletes. The combination of learning, improving, shifting mindsets, and providing routines for athletes are key ways to break bad habits.